Phrase like a horn player

When considering the history of jazz, Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt are rightly acknowledged for their monumental contribution in bringing the guitar to the forefront as a soloing instrument. Part of what made these players so great was their vision and ability to take influence from sources outside of the guitar, with Christian acknowledging Count Basie saxophonist Lester Young, while for Django the playing of trumpet virtuoso Louis Armstrong, had a massive effect on the direction and evolution of his style, right down to quoting specific lines in his solos.

This tradition has continued and it’s this connection we’re exploring today. There’s a huge amount we can learn from our horn-playing cousins. So much of the language of jazz has been defined by the contribution of trumpet and saxophone that this influence is almost impossible to ignore. As we’ll see, there are rich pickings as such a lot of this crucial vocabulary works perfectly on guitar.